by Robert Klemko, USA TODAY Sports

by Robert Klemko, USA TODAY Sports

NEW ORLEANS â?? Hey Steve Bisciotti, you might get a knock on the door of your owner's office at Baltimore Ravens headquarters in the next few weeks.

It's your quarterback, Super Bowl MVP Joe Flacco. His contract is up, and he wants to be paid.

"He did let me know that if the day came I could go beat on his desk and really put it to him," Flacco said after a 34-31 victory over the San Francisco 49ers. "So that's exactly what I'm going to do."

Flacco offered up some humor with the caveat that his expiring deal was "the last thing on his mind" after helping the Ravens to a victory in Super Bowl XLVII at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. In his first Super Bowl appearance, Flacco passed for 192 passing yards and three touchdowns in the first half to stake his team to an 18-point lead.

He was lights out â?? and then the lights actually went out.

Early in the third quarter, a power outage kept both teams off the field for 33 minutes. Once power was restored, the Ravens came out cold, and a 49ers offense helmed by rookie quarterback Colin Kaepernick pulled within two points in the fourth quarter. But a dramatic red-zone stand by the Baltimore defense with less than two minutes left helped the Ravens pull out a wild championship game.

"Games can go like that. That's why you have to take care of the football," Flacco said. "Fitting that we won that way. Niners got a little momentum and we had to win it at the end. That's the way it's always been with us."

Flacco was outstanding in the postseason with 11 touchdowns and no interceptions, tying Joe Montana and Kurt Warner for most passing touchdowns in a single postseason. In the Super Bowl, Flacco completed 22 of 33 passes (66.7 percent) for 287 yards and the three-first half TDs.

"It's pretty cool," Flacco said. "Joe Montana is my favorite quarterback. So to be put anywhere next to him is pretty cool."

The season was a remarkable journey for Flacco, who matter-of-factly declared himself the NFL's best quarterback during the offseason, expressed shock at the midseason firing of his offensive coordinator, Cam Cameron, and mounted one of the most efficient postseason runs for a quarterback in league history.

He did so while rejecting retiring linebacker Ray Lewis' suggestion that he be a more vocal leader. Instead, Flacco lets others do the talking, and other teammates see no need to get him riled up.

Like a pitcher throwing a perfect game, "Joe Cool" chills alone. "Joe just plays cool and stays focused. We don't like to bother him, we just let him stay in his zone," offensive tackle Bryant McKinnie said.

Said Flacco: "There are a lot of different ways to lead. You've got to do it your own way."

And which way is that? The "dull" way says his father, Steve.

There was nothing dull about Sunday night. The Ravens' no-huddle offense that was promised in the preseason and waned during the regular season picked up in the playoffs under new coordinator Jim Caldwell.

In the Super Bowl, it flourished.

Flacco led the Ravens on a six-play touchdown drive to open the scoring, covering 51 yards in two-and-a-half minutes. A rope across the middle found Anquan Boldin, as did a second-quarter strike to Dennis Pitta, who was standing open in the end zone, to give Baltimore a 14-3 lead.

Flacco was a play away from this stage a year ago, when Lee Evans dropped what might have been a game-winning touchdown pass in an AFC Championship game loss to the New England Patriots. Coaches and management contended the 2011 effort already had proved the value of Flacco, drafted 18th overall in 2008.

This year, Flacco took his team all the way, and he did it in the final year of his first NFL contract.